HOLLYWOOD (CAP) - Audiences are reeling over the surprise ending of the new Sandra Bullock hit The Proposal, which some critics are calling "this year's summer shocker."

In the film, Bullock plays a ruthless publishing executive who convinces her beleaguered assistant, played by Ryan Reynolds, to marry her to avoid being deported to Canada. But even though the two can't stand each other at the start of the film [WARNING: SPOILER ALERT], by the end of the film, they've actually fallen in love.

"Dude, I did NOT see that coming," said Josh Carlisle, 20, of Freehold, N.J., who saw the movie with his girlfriend, Carolyn Spalding, 19. "I mean, they didn't get along at all. There were a couple of times when I thought it was gonna end with one of them beating the other one to death with a hammer."

Thousands of other moviegoers have reacted similarly to the surprise twist ending, expressing their shock on Internet message boards.

"OMG, they had nothing in common and she wuz even a jerk 2 him!" said CindEE27 on a message board at imdb.com. "Then they got together and I wuz like, WTF???"

Disney, which produced the movie, has already latched onto the audience reaction to promote the film, releasing ads that ask viewers "Don't give away the ending!" and "Don't spoil the surprise!"

"Clearly, anyone seeing the trailers would think that these two people could never possibly have anything but disdain for each other," said Disney spokesman Ron Frischling. "That's probably why in some theaters there's an audible gasp when they finally realize they're in love.

"We bet a lot of people will be freeze framing that scene on the DVD, just to make sure they're not crazy!" he said.

Of course, those in the know say that the Proposal surprise should come as no surprise to Bullock fans.

"Her movies are always unpredictable," notes Sarah Johnson of People magazine. "You can go all the way back to While You Were Sleeping (1995) - everybody thought she'd wind up with the self-absorbed comatose lawyer, but when she wound up with dreamy, down-to-earth Bill Pullman, I mean, wowsa!"

The Proposal is one of several hits this summer to execute a shocking plot device that's beguiling audiences. For instance, the Ben Stiller hit Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian features museum exhibits that actually come to life.

"Dude, I was like, holy crap!" said Carlisle.

Others have pointed to the surprise ending of Star Trek, in which the crew of the Enterprise survives despite clearly being in dire peril throughout most of the movie.

"Anyone who says there's no such thing as an original idea in Hollywood clearly hasn't been watching too closely," said People's Johnson. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm late for a screener of Land Of The Lost."

SATIRE

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Jasmine V confirms she was knocked up by alien abductors, plans to keep the baby to help fight stereotypes of young Latina women who are pregnant with extraterrestrial offspring «» Donald Trump picks Matt Damon as his running mate, says the pair have successfully alienated women, Muslims, Mexicans, blacks and gays, just need to offend Jews and Asians for the clean sweep «» President Obama visits Alaska, vows to reunite cast of 'Northern Exposure' for show's 20th anniversary «» Experts say the best way to combat this is to make Aunt Midge sleep on the pullout sofa which will wreak havoc on her sciatica and eventually force her to seek a better night's sleep at a local hotel «» Experts say terrorists have been hording coupons for Bell's stuffing for months, forcing many Americans to either pay full price or go with bland, dry generic boxed stuffing «» The man credited with inventing the "Safety Is My Goal" and "How Is My Driving?" bumper stickers that spoke for a generation of livery drivers succumbed to injuries sustained after being rear-ended by a box truck «» The limited-time only beverage is available in Rancid or Sludge flavors mixed with one or two scoops of yesterday's coffee grounds and is served in a black cup only to those who verbally denounce all organized religions when ordering «» Inspired by their Missouri brethren, Wolverine players refuse to take the field and will "focus solely on their studies" until the University retains more attractive cheerleaders «» The newly revamped tourist attraction will feature a gift shop, a food court, and a stack of three-ring binders with pictures of fish that visitors can thumb through «» The ACLU is fighting the company's decision to pull the popular t-shirts from store shelves, saying it will unfairly force society's outcasts back to shopping at K-Mart for their apparel needs «» Critics say while the shake is indeed delicious, it's too soon after the Russian airline disaster to try to capitalize on it and note the company should "give it another month or so" «» Instead, half a dozen moderators will take the stage and fire barbs at each of the candidates and then see who can provide the most sarcastic response in their absence «» Both Hewlett-Packard companies announce they're each splitting into five new companies to create a voicemail tree so complex that none of them will actually need any customer service reps to answer phones «» Federal government's plan to release thousands of non-violent prisoners contingent upon them to "remember what Uncle Barry did for you" and make sure they vote Democrat in the next election «» The Conservative Liberals In Transition Outreach Intervention Society announces its support of Hillary Clinton; CLITOrIS members say she brings "the right amount of vagina" to the table «» New Halloween app Treatr allows kids to tap pictures of neighborhood houses to trick or treat, saves "all that time walking" and increases candy acquisition rates by 72% «» Retail chain CVS has bowed to pressure to stop stocking bags of metal filings in the same aisle as the Halloween candy, at least at this time of year «» Royals, Mets agree to blindfold random infielder every other inning to liven up the game, provide blooper reel footage when they cringe every time the ball is hit «» New education reform bill replaces D's and F's with frownie-face stickers to soften the blow and help kids "feel successful even in their failures" «» IBM engineers mark another milestone in artificial intelligence as Watson wins $250,000 on Fan Duel, will attempt to decipher teenage text lingo next «»